Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is still in Saudi Arabia undergoing medical treatment. He was reported to have signed the annual budget from Saudi Arabia. Political elements inside the country have called for his resignation.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Nigeria's president, not seen since going into hospital in Saudi Arabia for heart treatment in November, has told the BBC he hopes to resume his duties.
In his first interview since then, Umaru Yar'Adua said he was recovering and hoped to make "tremendous progress" which would enable him to return home.
Nigerian opposition parties have been demanding evidence about the true state of Mr Yar'Adua's health.
A rally has been called for Tuesday, mainly to protest over his absence.
There are three different court cases under way calling for power to be transferred to the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr Yar'Adua is also known to have kidney problems.
'Save Nigeria'
Speaking by telephone, Mr Yar'Adua said he was making a good recovery.
"At the moment I am undergoing treatment, and I'm getting better from the treatment. I hope that very soon there will be tremendous progress, which will allow me to get back home," he said.
"I wish, at this stage, to thank all Nigerians for their prayers for my good health, and for their prayers for the nation."
Rumours had been rife that he was critically ill and unable to return to the presidency.
Under the banner Enough Is Enough, an organisation called the Save Nigeria Group called people on to the streets of the capital, Abuja.
There is a perceived danger of a power vacuum in a country which only saw the back of military rule just over 10 years ago, the BBC's Will Ross reports from the city.
The opposition plan is to march to the national assembly where senators are expected to be discussing the president's health.
Prominent opposition politicians and lawyers, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and the Biafran secessionist leader, Chief Emeka Ojukwu, will be among the demonstrators.
It is not clear if the demonstration will be well attended, our correspondent says.
Nigerians may be worried about their absent president but whether they will take time off to demonstrate is another matter, he adds.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8453321.stm
Published: 2010/01/12 02:10:34 GMT
‘The army is not interested in power'
BY DAVID AJIKOBI
Nigeria Next
January 12, 2010 03:01AMT
The Nigeria Army on Monday reacted to reports that it may seize power if President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's protracted absence threatens national security. Chris Olukolade, a brigadier-general and the head of the Directorate of Army Public Relations said, in a phone interview with NEXT, that contrary to rumours and reports that some officers in the Nigeria Army might be spoiling to take over power based on the present political outlook concerning Mr. Yar‘Adua's indefinite absence, the army has no intention of returning to power.
Military takeover?
Mr. Olukolade said that he was only restating the comments of the chief of army staff, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, a lieutenant-general, that the army would remain in the barracks.
"The chief of army staff has given a clear answer to that by stating that we are not interested in seizing power and our interest is to perform our constitutional duties and remain loyal to the political authorities," he said. "That question of a takeover is completely out of it and it has been answered by the chief of army staff. I am only echoing what the chief of army staff said." The army spokesperson said that the rumours did not come from the ranks of the army; and moreover, the force is preoccupied with peacekeeping and maintaining internal security and assured that it would remain so.
"I don't think that the army can give the public any other assurance than I think that is clear enough," he said. "And the rumour is definitely not from the military and the press should help communicate that to the public that such rumors should stop and they are completely unfounded." He said the armed forces had remained quiet over the President's absence because the political scene was out of its purview.
"What else do you expect from the military?" he asked. "We are subordinate. The political authorities can always resolve that. We have no say in that whatsoever. The army is just telling Nigerians to be prayerful." During an inspection of newly procured peacekeeping kits for the army at the Central Ordinance Depot in Lagos on January 7, Mr. Danbazzau refused to answer questions from journalists about reports that the force may take over the baton of leadership. He referred to the matter as a "strictly political matter."
An unwanted option
By Tuesday, January 12, governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party would have met with the country's vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, twice as a group since the President left Nigeria to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. According to sources in government, these meetings may not be unconnected to worries by the governors that the military might be tempted to sieze leadership if the country continues without a leader.
The chief of army staff and other security chiefs also met with Mr. Goodluck at the first security meeting of the year, but there was no indication that the deepening leadership crisis was among items discussed.
What are the chances?
The possibility of a military takeover has been analysed in the foreign press. According to a briefing by John Campbell, a former United States ambassador to Nigeria, published on December 30 by the US Council on Foreign Relations, President Yar'Adua will soon be forced to relinquish power and a succession crisis is likely to follow, bringing out the soldiers from the barracks.
"The competing factions will struggle among themselves without resolution, and the army will step in and establish a military government, though with a civilian façade," he said in the report. "And the most hopeful one is that "the country will limp toward national elections scheduled for 2011." He also declared: "Nigeria's military, though much weakened, continues to regard itself as the ultimate custodian of the state. If the current crisis spins out of control, the Nigerian military is likely to intervene, possibly with a nominal civilian head."
Mr. Olukolade said the army has a legacy of effectiveness and efficiency and will only carry out its constitutional duties, which is protecting the nation.
Yar’Adua sick but still alive – Presidency
Headlines Jan 12, 2010
Nigeria Vanguard
By Daniel Idonor
ABUJA—AFTER many weeks of keeping Nigerians in a graveyard silence, the Presidency apparently reacting to another round of widespread speculations of the death of the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua, yesterday, urged Nigerians to discountenance the story which it described as not only false, but also a figment of the writers’ imagination.
According to Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Presidential spokesman, who spoke from Angola, where he is participating in the ongoing CAF Nations Cup, said the public should discountenance the story, insisting that the president was not only alive, but very much conscious and getting better.
He told the State House correspondents from Angola where he had gone for the opening ceremonies of the African Cup of Nations: “The speculations are false.
The president is alive and actually getting better. He is very much conscious, can talk and has been talking, including making phone calls to some people back home.”
Adeniyi said he travelled to Angola with President Yar’Adua’s permission as a member of the Presidential Committee, adding, “so, I am here officially but I am coming back home hopefully tomorrow because he has so directed.”
The country was, yesterday, again for the second time in about 50 days, awakened by the news of the president’s death following a report to that effect published on the online edition of one American Chronicle, with concerned Nigerians making enquiries as to its veracity.
A local newspaper had last Sunday reported that the president who left the country on November 23 to seek treatment in Saudi Arabia for an ailment medically called acute pericarditis was brain-damaged and could not recognize anyone, including his wife, Turai.
Unsubstantiated report
The seat of power and presidential Villa was yesterday, however, calm even as the news about the President Yar’Adua’s death was all over the country, as no one, including the Vice President who received many visitors, his key aides as well as some ministers who called on him betrayed any form of anxiety.
Meantime, the Chief Economic Adviser to President Umaru Yar‘Adua, Tanimu Yakubu ,was yesterday quoted by an online news agency, huhuonline.com, as saying emphatically that his principal, is not only alive but will resume work soon.
The agency said the presidential aide gave the assurance while reacting to an unsubstantiated report by another unverified source –the American Chronicle.
According to the agency, Yakubu said: “You are making me to break my silence on not responding again to recurring death wishes for President Umar Yar’Adua.
I confirm that the story in the hyper link you referred me to is yet another death wish for President Umar Yar’Adua. President Yar’Adua is alive. Watch out for a proof shortly. Once again, I confirm that President Umar Yar’Adua is alive, feeling much better, mentally alert and home bound very soon by the grace of the Almighty God”.
According to the unconfirmed American Chronicle source, “the Nigerian President, His Excellency Umaru Yar`Adua is dead, according to authoritative sources at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. He died on December 10, at 3.30 p.m at an Intensive Care Unit at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Sources at the Hospital say that the First Lady wants to keep the news secret for the next few days for personal reasons. At the time of his death he was surrounded by his wife, Turai, and a childhood friend, Nigerian member of Parliament.”
About those said to have been with the President when he breathed his last, Tanimu was quoted to have said; “Mr. President’s friend in the National Assembly is Hon. Member of the House of Representatives, Mallam Shehu Inuwa Imam representing Faskari Federal Constituency in Katsina State.
This gentleman was in Nigeria on the day he was wished to have witnessed the President’s death! Once again, I confirm that President Umar Yar’Adua is alive, feeling much better, mentally alert and home bound very soon by the grace of the Almighty God”.
Governors silent on Yar'Adua
Obidike Okafor
Nigeria Next
January 12, 2010 03:01AMT
The forum of governors met in Abuja in the early hours of today to discuss the state of the nation but no word was said about President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who has been absent for 50 days.
The meeting, led by the chairman of the forum and Kwara State governor Bukola Saraki, was attended by 28 other governors, the Special Adviser to the president on Millennium Development Goals, Amina Zubair, and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi lamido.
The governor's discussed issues ranging from Nigeria's inclusion on the terrorist list by America, excess crude account, child mortality and their tour of the states.
First, they condemned the inclusion of Nigeria on the list of nations whose citizens will be required to undergo special screening at airports and agreed to look into ways of reversing the unfortunate situation. On the sharing of money in the excess crude account, the governors insisted that the money belonged to the states as well as the federal government and no one part should have the sole right to decide how the money is used.
The governors later invited Amina Zubair who heads the Millennium Development Goals for a briefing and pledged their support to ensure that the development goals are reached by 2015. They also invited the CBN governor to discuss how the one billion naira loan meant for farmers will be distributed. The governors promised to continue supporting the Midwife service scheme which was initiated to nip infant mortality in the bud.
Finally, the governors announced that they will continue their tour of the states to study the achievements of each state and see what they can gain from one another. The governors have so far visited 18 states.
The meeting lasted less than an hour.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Govt denies Yar'Adua's death, pressure mounts
Govs hold fresh meeting on Yar'Adua
Soyinka laments lies to Nigeria, Nigerians' docility
Northern legislators meet
From Martins Oloja, Madu Onuorah, John Abba-Ogbodo, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja) Abiodun Fagbemi (Ilorin) Emmanuel Ande (Jos) and Saxone Akhaine, Kaduna, Chukwuma Muanya (Lagos)
Nigerian Guardian
AMIDST rumours yesterday of the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in Saudi Arabia, the Presidency has urged Nigerians to ignore the story, saying that it is "not only false, but also a figment of the writers' imagination."
Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Olusegun Adeniyi, said the public should discountenance the story, insisting that President Yar'Adua was not only alive, but very much conscious and getting better.
Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and some other prominent Nigerians and groups yesterday called for an urgent solution to the quagmire
According to Adeniyi, who sent his response from Angola where he said he was attending the opening ceremony of the African Cup of Nations as a member of the Presidential Task Force on Nigeria's participation in 2010 World Cup: "The speculations are false. The President is alive and actually getting better. He is very much conscious, can talk and has been talking , including making phone calls to some people back home."
The presidential spokesman added that he travelled to Angola with the permission of President Yar'Adua. "I am here officially. But I am coming back home, hopefully tomorrow, because he has so directed," Adeniyi said.
Indeed "last night, former governor of Abia State, Oji Uzor Kalu told The Guardian what he called "the most authentic proof that the rumour is worse than a lie."
"How could a man I spoke to on December 31, 2009 could have died on December 10?"
According to him, "Mutawallen Katsina spoke to me. I know his voice. Hamza, his Special Assistant who was his ADC when he was Katsina State governor, facilitated the call. " I was in Lebanon. I called Hamza to ask after the President's health and he told me he wouldn't see him until about four hours later."
After that, said Kalu, "he indeed called me back and handed the phone to President Yar'Adua. His voice was low but we exchanged banters the way he and I would normally do."
According to the former Abia governor, the President may have been moved to one of the residential houses of the Saudi King from hospital to stave off pressures.
"But to say keeping him in-communicado means he is dead is stretching the imagination too far."
Inside the Presidential Villa Abuja, the atmosphere was normal all through the day. There were no public engagements by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan who was still in his office at about 6pm.
But he received some visitors. The first was the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu and, later, chairman of the National Ports Authority (NPA) and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih. Also, the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), Mr Afakriya Gadzama, was with the Vice President. All officials were also on the ground in the Presidential Villa.
When The Guardian contacted the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, she said: "I am not aware. What I do know is that Mr. President is responding to treatment, and he recently spoke with the Vice President."
Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, also told The Guardian that he was not aware of anything on the President "Chukwuma! You should take it easy. I have not heard of any such thing," he said in response to the rumour of the President's death.
Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, United States and Joint Pioneer of Test Tube baby technology in Nigeria, Prof. Oladapo A. Ashiru OFR, in his reaction remarked:
"Medically by the time any patient with Churg-Strauss Syndrome develops renal complications followed by ureamic pericarditis --- uniquely associated with kidney/renal failure --- the treatment becomes extremely challenging even to the best of medical teams. At this trying time when our international image is being dented, especially with the December 25 bomb attempt, the most important thing we must sell is credibility. It is very clear that if our leaders are found to be non-credible it will tell on us. This is why those in government must quickly do their best to be truthful to the nation."
There were also reports yesterday that governors of the 36 states of the federation may extend their emergency meeting which started late yesterday night in Abuja.
Expectedly the meeting, chaired by the Kwara state Governor Bukola Saraki may make the issue of the President's health the kernel of meeting.
The position of the governors on the issue may be made public at the end of the meeting "if the majority of them would favour it" said a source.
Sources told The Guardian that the meeting became imperative in order to prevent further speculations about the state of health of the President.
Soyinka also yesterday spoke on the prolonged absence of Yar'Adua, saying that the nation is at a standstill.
He called for mass action by the citizenry against what he described as a 'ridiculous regime' holding the country to ransom to avoid the elongation of the current emergency.
Soyinka explained that the rally holding today in Abuja , the Federal Capital Territory, was organized to protest the apparent violation of the constitution by the administration and its penchant for reeling out lies to the public.
He said similar protests would be held across the country to press for the application of the constitutional provisions as panacea to what he called "this national emergency."
The literary giant said those lying to the nation about the health of the president have committed treason, adding that they should not go unpunished.
Soyinka who was the' guest of the month' at the Agricultural Training School, Epe, Lagos State told the participants Nigerians must be mobilized to legitimately confront the government over its inaction.
Hailing the participants for choosing farming as an occupation, Soyinka who said he was nature friendly observed that the agricultural initiative trailed the farm settlements of the Obafemi Awolowo era in the old Western Region.
He recalled that his sad moment when he was a student at Government College, Ibadan, was when the colonial school authority slated farming as extra-curricular activity.
Soyinka also said one of the errors committed after independence was the neglect of agriculture in the school curricular.
' One of the saddest days was when the colonial school authorities cancelled agriculture. Football, athletics remained. It was one of the most disastrous experiences. If you cannot grow what you eat, you must encourage people who can do it... We have oil, but we cannot drink oil. Wrong sense of education made people to abandon agriculture due to oil', he said.
The eminent scholar said, although the call for violent revolution has filled the air, it is not the best option, warning that history has shown that it usually consumes its architects.
He feared that a violent revolution may herald the emergence of another Stalin, reminiscent of the brutality the Soviet revolution unleashed on the people of Russia and other nations.
But, the retired university don frowned at the docile attitude of people to burning national issues which, he said, contrasted with the perception of foreigners about an average Nigerian.
Soyinka said that complacency often made Nigerians to attribute the problems of the country which affect their daily wellbeing to an act of God.
' What I will like to change is what appears to be the national character of docility. People absorb so much. This is what Yoruba call Iwosi in this country. The contempt for the people is amazing.
' People endure two hours of electricity per day. I know how much I pay for diesel. It is enough to award scholarship to people for their entire career. Many people outside think Nigerians are aggressive, noisy and loud. They are taking out on other people the way they cannot express at home.
' The president is away for 40 days without handing over and all of you are here saying that you are planting cassava', he said.
Soyinka welcomed all legitimate solutions to the current impasse, except violence, adding that the call for an Interim National Government by his compatriot, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, was also in order.
He said the participants at today's rally in Abuja would make some resolutions that would aide the government to halt the tension and anxiety in the country.
' For me, the most important thing is to wake the nation up, to make people understand that they don't have to accept the act of contempt from their rulers and regard it as the norm. The nation must be made one way or the other to understand that the line has been crossed by leaving this nation without a head for so long, in not sticking to the provisions of the constitution.
He said the lying spirit that has seized those at the helm of affairs in the country to make them liable to treason.
'If the president of a nation is not in a situation where he can manage the affairs of the nation, and you keep lying and covering up to the nation, you are committing treason against the people', he stressed.
' The constitution we have is not the people's constitution. For me, that constitution must be completely overturned. We must have a genuine people's constitution. However, that is what we have at the moment and that is why we have operated it for so many years. People should not keep the constitution as something we should follow when it is convenient. That is not healthy. It is what holds the nation together. If you don't follow the constitution, you are laying the ground for dangerous friction in the country', he added.
Soyinka also berated the National Assembly for failing to rise to the occasion, lamenting that their reluctance has made the conspiracy of lies to triumph in the country.
He reiterated his call for a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the contentious national issues, recalling that he has discussed the option with President Yar'Adua when he met him.
He also said he had pointed out to the president the embarrassing activities of the electoral commission under Prof Maurice Iwu and the danger of delaying the proposed electoral reforms.
However, 58 senators from the Northern part of the country met in Abuja yesterday evening to review the implications of the prolonged ill health of the President.
The lawmakers met under the platform of the Northern Senators' Forum.
Although no official statement was issued at the end of the meeting, it was gathered that the lawmakers agreed to support a motion being put together by the entire Senate to debate the health condition of President Yarçdua.
According to sources, a key prayer of that motion is that a delegate of Senators be sent to Saudi Arabia to visit the President to acquire first-hand information on the true state of his health.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had said in Minna, Niger State at the weekend that the Senate would discuss the state of the nation, including the continued absence of the president when it resumes.
But the House of Representatives may shift debate on the president's health, earlier scheduled for today to tomorrow, Wednesday. The shift, according to sources, is to mourn the death of Hajia Aisha Nafada, the mother of the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada.
Speaking with The Guardian on the telephone yesterday, the chairman of the House Committee on Finance, John Enoh, said the time had come for the House to take decisive action on the absence of the President from office for over one month.
Published 1/12/2010 3:37:00 AM
Terror list: US decision hasty, rash — Fashola
Agency Reporter
Nigeria Punch
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has described as hasty and rash, the decision by the United States to include Nigeria on the list of ‘security risk states.’
The US decision came after an attempted terrorist attack by a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar AbdulMutallab on a Delta Airlines plane at Detroit International Airport, Detroit, Michigan on December 25, 2009.
Fashola said while fielding questions from participants at an economic conference in Lagos on Monday that the US decision on Nigeria was hasty.
He added that such listing was not good for the international relations and business partnership between both nations.
Speaking on the implication of such decision on Nigeria’s economy, Fashola said the US and other Western countries might be more affected, saying the country contributed a large chunk to the Western economies through aviation.
He said, “I think if Nigerians stop flying, economies of the West would be affected. First class and business cabins of airlines to Europe and America are occupied mainly by Nigerians and if that stops, that will affect these economies.”
US bent on humiliating Nigeria - Jibril Aminu
Nigeria Daily Trust
Written by Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, Yola
Monday, 11 January 2010 23:34
The Chairman, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Professor Jibril Aminu has said the Barack Obama administration in the United States placed Nigeria on the terror watch list because it was bent on humiliating the country.
The US government put Nigeria on the watch list following an alleged attempt by a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Mutallab, to blow up a US plane in Detroit on Christmas Day.
In an interview with journalists in his Yola residence, Professor Aminu, a former Nigerian ambassador to the United States, described the US decision as unfair, unnecessary and unjustified.
He said the Obama administration in particular came in with a negative agenda on Nigeria and used the failed bombing incidence to get at the country.
From the harsh and consistent criticism of Nigeria to shunning it in favour of Ghana and now placing it on the watch list, it is clear that the Obama administration does not like Nigeria, Aminu alleged.
“From one insult to another, they keep on criticising Nigeria …Why should Obama administration do this to us? I think that is not fair; it requires correction,” he said.
“Why should we have a better deal under (former President Bill) Clinton and (former President George) Bush than under our fellow brother from Africa (President) Obama.
It is unjustified,” he said, alleging that there are some people in the Obama administration who have a hidden agenda against Nigeria.
The former envoy noted that there were many countries whose citizens were involved in alleged terrorism but America conveniently ignored them and picked Nigeria.
He said there were many suspects from Europe, particularly Britain where a convicted shoe bomber, Richard Reid and many terror suspects come from, but nobody put Britain on the list.
Obasanjo faults FG on terror listing
Nigeria Daily Trust
Written by Isa Umar Gusau, Maiduguri
Monday, 11 January 2010 23:37
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has faulted the reaction of the Federal Government to the listing of Nigeria among countries whose citizens would face intense screening before entering the United States of America.
The US had days ago listed Nigeria alongside nine others Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen as “countries of interest” in an intensified counter-terrorism policy.
Soon after the listing, the Federal Government came out strongly to condemn it, insisting that Farouk spent only a few minutes on its soil while Nigeria has been a key player in global counter- terrorism treaties.
Obasanjo however told the BBC Network Africa yesterday that he would have expected the government to come out and say what went wrong on the side of Nigeria’s security system and announce measures to be adopted to prevent what he called the “brain washing” of its young citizens into engaging in terrorism to to prevent a recurrence. He cited the response of the US after the alleged failed attack where the government admitted that something went wrong with its security system and has been trying to take measures to avert future occurrence.
Obasanjo said he had seen extremism in Nigeria on the part of some followers of the two major religions, Islam and Christianity. He however noted that when he first learnt about an alleged attempt by a Nigerian to bomb himself inside a US bound plane, he received the news with disbelief but after unfolding developments his disbelief turned to shock because it was strange, maintaining that if the alleged attempt had succeeded it would have been very disastrous.
‘Nigeria/China energy pact mutually beneficial’
Nigeria Daily Trust
Written by Aisha Umar
Monday, 11 January 2010 23:17
Cooperation between Nigeria and China in the area of energy is just commencing but a lot more can be achieved jointly, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Mr. Jiechi Yang has said.
Speaking in Abuja at bilateral talks between Nigeria and China, Mr. Jiechi Yang said “China and Nigeria have had great cooperation in the energy field, which is mutually beneficial to both parties. Progress has been made and we believe that it is important to translate the energy strong points of Nigeria into advantages of social and economical development. In China we do need to import oil from other countries including Nigeria.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Ojo Maduekwe said just as China is the largest country in Asia, Nigeria is also the largest country in Africa, adding that “Nigeria has enjoyed close economic ties with China and the high point of that relationship is President Yar’adua’s state visit to China within few months of his being in office”.
Workers’ unions vow to picket banks over mass sack
Nigeria Daily Trust
Monday, 11 January 2010 22:07
Workers’ unions in the banking industry yesterday said they would picket banks that failed to recall workers sacked without due consultation with labour.
In separate interviews with News the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the unions commended the Jan. 7 statement by the Federal Government criticising the sack.
The government had directed banks which recently sacked thousands of employees to recall all workers sacked without due process or face sanctions.
The government gave the directive after a meeting with labour representatives, workers’ unions and representatives of the affected banks on Jan. 5 in Abuja.
Mr Jarvis Erohmosele, General Secretary, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution (ASSBIFI) said the government’s directive was in line with the unions’ demands.
We will picket any bank that does not comply with the government’s directive,’’ Eromhosele told NAN.
The general secretary hoped that the government’s decision would stop the mass sack embarked on by banks following recent financial instability in the sector.
Mr Hassan Adeleke, President, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), said the union was insisting that bank workers sacked without due process should be recalled.
Adeleke urged financial institutions to endeavour to dialogue with labour unions while taking decisions concerning their workers. (NAN).
House debates Anti-Terrorism Bill tomorrow
New Nigerian
From SUNDAY ODE & JOSHUA I. EGBODO, Abuja
AS the House of Representatives resume plenary tomorrow, top on its agenda would be a debate on the general principles of a bill seeking measures to combat terrorism. Titled “ A Bill For An Act To Provide For Measures To Combat Terrorism and For Other Related Matters,’ the Anti-Terrorism Bill was first presented in 2006 but failed to scale through final legislative processing before the termination of the last National Assembly.
Accordingly, the bill was returned to the legislature in October last year. It is expected to go the whole hog of legislative procedures in accordance with the rules of the legislature before it can be passed for presidential assent.
In a move believed to be a direct reaction to the failed bomb attack in the United States plane on last Christmas day, involving a Nigerian, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the House of Representatives said it would give the bill accelerated treatment on resumption tomorrow.
The U S which jury have already indicted the failed jet bomber of the alleged offence has also listed Nigeria among terrorist countries under U S watch with dire consequences of losing vital American aids.
The Federal Government has swiftly reacted to the American decision with protests.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja on the planned activities of the House as it resumes plenary tomorrow, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Ita Enang said the House would debate on the U S’ decision as it resumes plenary.
Fielding questions from newsmen, the lawmaker affirmed that the signature on the 2009 supplementary budget was the authentic President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s, and that the onus was on anyone alleging falsehood to prove to the world that it was not Mr. President’s signature.
Enang also disclosed that the House would debate on the indisposition of President Yar’Adua who is undergoing medical treatment in a Saudi Hospital for over a month now, adding that a motion was in the offing on the matter, which would be followed by a resolution of the House. He however declined to name any of the sponsors.
He equally explained that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole had confirmed to him that he actually spoke with the president, in which he was asked about the legislative activities of the House.
Speaking further, Enang said report of the Deputy Speaker Usman Bayero Nafada-led special ad-hoc committee for the review of the 1999 Constitution was ready and would be laid on the floor of the House tomorrow, saying members would immediately embark on a clause by clause consideration of the report.
According to him, special attention would be paid to the constitution amendment bills seeking to unbundle the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] in order to make it enjoy a first line charge from the consolidated revenue fund of the nation, as well as create the Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission.
Also listed for consideration, he explained was the Freedom of Information [FOI] Bill, which he said would be recommitted to the House Committee on Information by way of a motion, after which a public hearing would be conducted to iron out some grey areas on which concerns have been raised by members and the public. “The FOI Bill is still before the House of Representatives,” he submitted.
He further said that the House would embark on sectoral debate on the floor, which according to him would be led by committee heads which have oversight powers of each sector, as a way of briefing the House through their sessional reports.
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